Elite Jogging For Dummies

Out and back to Research Park. My watch was telling me 7:30 pace, my legs were telling me 6:00 pace. That's basically how it was today.

East High track. Started with an easy mile. Then 4 x 100m strides. Then 2 miles where I alternated hard and easy laps. On the hard laps, I brought the split down a second or two each time, down from 1:25 for the slowest to 1:19 for the fastest. Then one more easy mile. Felt ok.

Easy out and back through the University. I had a massage last night from Mark Oftedal and that helped loosen things up, I think.

Sasha--Mark said that he met you down in Provo recently at one of the XC meets. His son Eli is quite a phenom for a 9 year old. I'm going to try to make it to the state meet on Nov. 4 to watch the kids run.

Easy out and back down 4th Ave. with Heather. Picked it up a bit on the return mile.

It's a nice overcast autumn morning up here in Salt Lake, so even though I only had a small bit of running to do, I thought I would make it count, so I headed up to the Shoreline trail and ran the Morris Meadow loop.

At this point, the cumulative restrained energy from the bloggers on this site could power a small city. I look forward to catching up with some of you maniacs at the Expo this afternoon or at the race. The taper is almost over and tomorrow we get to run!

St. George Marathon: here are the particulars: Time: 2:37:53. Overall place: 21st out of the 4700+ maniacs that finished the race. Age group place: 5th. Pace: 6:01 per mile.

Here are the (probably very boring) details:

I decided to fly to St. George on Friday so that I could make quick return on Saturday afternoon for a friend's wedding reception. The skies were stormy and cloudy the whole way, basically, and it was quite an awful flight on the little turbo prop airplane. Two women were vomiting in a row in front of me. Another was crying like mad on takeoff and landing; I don't know what was going on there, but she seemed pretty miserable. It took me a couple of hours after I landed to get my equilibrium back.

I stayed in a condo with John and Jeff Straley and another runner named Jeremy. Loaded up on pasta, watched "Better of Dead'; got in bed at about 10:30.

Alarm went off at 4:10 am. We were out the door about a half hour later to grab the busses. I was surprised how few people were lined up, as it seems many many people took the bait for the prizes being given to early bus riders. The ride to the start was surprisingly quick.

The atmosphere at the start was great; lots of people with lots of energy milling around under the bright lights getting ready to race.

At start time, it was still plenty dark. I actually prefer this and wouldn't mind if the first half were run in the dark. Once it gets light in a marathon, unless it's cold out, I find that the sun can zap energy.

Right at the start I hooked up with Jed Burton, as we had talked about. We both hoped to run sub 2:40, a first for both of us. We ran easy for the first few miles; 6:05-6:10. Clyde joined us for a couple of miles before pushing ahead at about 5 or 6. That was the last I would see of him.

Jed and I hung together through Veyo, taking the climb nice and easy; hard enough to pass a couple of people, but not hard enough to do any damage. We were 7:14 for mile 7-8.

One thing on my mind during those early miles was the fact that my right shoe was not tight enough and my foot was sort of slipping around. It was starting to be one of those things that the more I tried to ignore it, the more it bothered me. So around mile 9, Jed picked it up a bit and I dropped back for a second and stopped to tie it. I figured it was something I should do early, rather than later in the race when I might not be able to stand up if I stopped. So I stopped, tied it once, decided it wasn't tight enough, and tied it again. Probably lost 40 seconds. Watched several people pass me. I got up and, taking a page from Sasha's book, decided not to chase them down in a sprint, but to regain the position gradually. Pushed through the hills at 9-11 feeling pretty good, slowly making up the time I had lost. Jed was still well ahead of me though, at least a minute. He had definitely picked it up it seemed.

My strategy was to get to the half way point feeling fresh so that I could unload on the second half. I got to the half in 1:21:45, which is about right where I wanted to be.

Jed was back in view now, running with Bill Cobler. This was an interesting dynamic as these two have been battling for the Utah Marathon Grand Slam this summer. Jed had a substantial lead on Bill overall and that would be difficult to make up today unless something went wrong, but I knew they were both going to let it all loose today.

Now the miles were getting much faster as we ran through Diamond Valley and into Snow Canyon. The grade is steep, but surprisingly runnable. I could run 5:40-5:50 without putting too much on the line, either in terms of energy consumption or physical damage. I just tried to hold the downhill form I have been working on this summer and keep it sane.

Out of Snow Canyon there is a hill around mile 19 and I caught Bill Cobler and a couple of others around that point. Jed had pressed ahead but I could see him pretty well. Some time around 21, I passed an ailing Mike Kirk. Things obviously weren't going as planned for him and he confirmed this when he told me he was "running with one foot." He kindly offered some encouragement to me to press ahead and I tried to do that.

Finally caught up to Jed after 21. We hung together again for a couple more miles as we descended into St. George itself. I figured we would stay close until the end, but Jed dropped back a bit and I just kept the same pace. Just tried to hold on for the last couple of miles.

At mile 25, I saw my two good friends, Mark Holland and Julie Cassidy; both of whom couldn't run the race this year due to injury, but who made the trip anyway. Mark has run 2:27 at St. George won the masters division; Julie won this year's Moab Half Marathon and Des News Marathon. They were giving me a lot of encouragement to keep it up and Mark's enthusiasm was a real boost.

I just tried to hold it through the last mile and the finish finally came into view. Crossed the finish in 2:37:53, a PR by 18 minutes over last year's effort at Chicago. Most importantly, it was just fun to run.

Jed was just behind me in 2:38:04, with Bill Cobler right behind him. My friend Casey came in at 2:55, finally getting the 3 hour monkey off his back, much to the relief of his wife and children. John Straley came in at 2:58:57, winning the 55-59 age group. He's an absolute machine. Aimee Larkin finished in 2:46, scoring her another entry at the Olympic Trials, I believe.

Just some light stretching and a bit of core work.

More light stretching and easy core work. Hamstrings have no more soreness. Calves feel fine. The residual soreness now is just in my quads and IT bands. I'll run a bit tomorrow, but I'm planning to take it very easy for at least a week. I have no reason to hurry.

***Thanks to Sasha for adding the new "Search" feature to the blog. As entries on the blog continue to accumulate, it will be easier to try and track down prior entries that included information about specific races or workouts, how people have treated certain injuries, or entries about specific places to run, among many other uses.***

Hooked up with a few Black Sheep at Foothill for a short recovery run. I didn't have any soreness, at least until we started running. I could still feel the quads and IT bands coming down Sunnyside by the Zoo.

A few easy loops around Morris Meadow was enough for today. The legs feel much better than yesterday. I'm trying to hold back from running too much as I think I'll benefit from more rest in the long run (so to speak). Stretching and core work have helped to let off a bit of extra steam.

Short loop through the University. Still a bit stale.

No running today. We had our law firm retreat up at Deer Valley and a group of us went out for a mountain bike ride on the Mid-Mountain Trail. It was fun; still some pockets of fall color. Heather rode really well also.

Easy trail run with Heather, heading east from Deer Valley resort; out and back.

Research Park loop. It was a really pleasant morning for a run; cool and misty and dark! While running up through Federal Heights, I passed a guy in a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark pants carrying two backpacks that looked stuffed to the seams. It was early and he wasn't walking toward the University. It dawned on me later when a cop was driving slowly through the neighborhood on my return that maybe this suspicious fellow was engaged in some criminal mischief!

The run felt much better today than anything last week. The legs have finally loosened up enough that my form feels natural again.

Heather and I added another 3.75 down through Memory Grove and back home tonight.

Not quite ready for speedwork with the Black Sheep yet, so I decided to just run easy and throw in some pickups. From home, I ran through the U over to East High track where I ran an easy 7:23 mile to recalibrate my Suunto t6. On the way back, I ran .75 hard/.25 easy. My last mile was right at 6 min.

Having read many of the blogs here about the Garmin 305 and seen the Garmin in action with friends, I'm definitely considering making the leap over to the GPS-based system, rather than the foot-pod based system that I have with the Suunto t6. For the most part, I love the watch and the training-effect information it provides, but I am also interested in the speed/distance precision that GPS affords. I've been hesitant so far because the Garmin models have traditionally been too bulky--like wearing a garage door opener on your wrist-- but I think the 305 is pretty moderately sized considering what it does.

Foothill Village/Research Park/Steiner loop with a few of the Black Sheep. The pace started easy; we finished with a couple of miles at 6:45 pace.

Easy run up to the University where I did a series of lite-tempo surges over 3.4 miles around campus. It wasn't marathon pace, but it wasn't easy pace either. I was running 6:25 pace at best. Felt alright for my first effort at quicker leg turnover since the marathon.

H-Rock loop with the Black Sheep. There is a 600 foot climb from Wasatch Blvd. to Skyline Drive in about 3/4 of a mile, but otherwise this run is very mellow.

A group of about 10 of us met up at 7:15 off of Bear Hollow Rd. near the Canyons resort in Park City. We ran a very cool loop that hooked together a few trails I had not run before. I'll have to go back and piece it all together, but we ran sections of the Mid-Mountain trail, Holly's Down, Rob's Trail, and a couple of others. We looped back to our starting point from one of the lodges on the north section of the Canyons.

It was 28 degrees when we started, but we warmed up quickly with a 3 mile climb, gaining 1500 feet. We reached a saddle and then had a very gradual and winding 5 mile descent on some great single track through pines and aspens. Not many leaves left, but still very pretty. The views on this run were great.

I put a little bit of effort into the climb, but for the most part it was just easy and conversational. It was a good group of folks to hang out with for this autumn run.

Bonneville Shoreline trail from the Morris Meadow trailhead. Easy on the way up, gaining just a little less than 900 feet in the 3 miles out. Picked it up on the way back, but kept it in control. Another beautiful fall morning.

From 15th and 15th at 5:30 with a few Black Sheep. We ran the route to top of the med school campus. The pace got somewhat aggressive from Research Park to the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI), with me and Casey K. running pretty hard for a marathon pace mile to the turnaround point. Easy for the first couple of miles on the way back, and then picked it up to marathon pace for the last mile home. This is supposed to be an "easy" day, but this particular group today, including Mark Holland and Aimee Larkin, makes it into more of a tempo effort.

Speedwork with the Black Sheep on the roads around Red Butte Garden. We did a mile warm up and then 4 hill repeats on the entrance up to the garden that are pretty steep. Then 4 laps of a one mile route that includes about .70 of hard running, and .30 of recovery, and includes a mix of flat and hill running. Then a long hill surge, followed by an easy recovery.

Glad to have survived today's run. Sam, Jan and I started at Cucina on 2nd Ave at 6am, with the plan to run the loop on the Bonneville Shoreline trail from City Creek to Dry Creek and back down to Cucina. Jan turned back a few minutes into the run because of a nagging achilles problem. Sam and I continued on toward City Creek.

Now, the last couple of runs Sam and I have done together included getting hung up behind some skunks in Millcreek Canyon and then getting caught in a September blizzard up on Shoreline. Today, it started fine, we had a nice ascent up City Creek, through the meadow, and up past the turn off to Terrace Hills, following the ridgeline trail. There was some lightning in the distance, but we didn't think much of it. That is, until we were suddenly blinded by a tremendous flash of lightning right in front of us, accompanied by a huge crack of thunder. We both hit the ground immediately. Sam swears the bolt was less than 50 feet from us. I have never seen a flash of light so bright that wasn't plugged in to something. It was just freaky--we were way too close to getting fried! Since we had about 4 miles of ridge running ahead of us, we decided, without any discussion, to turn around and head back. On our way down toward Terrace Hills, we had another jolt just a bit behind us; again we both hit the ground. After a few minutes of running for our lives, we got to the relative safety of the Terrace Hills road and ran back down to 11th Ave., Virginia, and to Cucina from there. Crazy morning!

Met up with Amy S. at my house at 6am. We ran up to campus at the U. I wanted to run a tempo-like run on the Run Like Health 5k course. The course is like a maze that weaves all around campus. Very difficult to follow. Lots of quick, sharp turns that are hard to navigate. I doubt there are any straight stretches more than .25 mi. Also, there is construction in the middle of campus and I can't tell at all where the course is supposed to go. The race should be an adventure for that reason. Sasha would have a field day with the course certification issues. Both times I have run the course, I have had 3.4 mi on my Suunto, but I'm sure I didn't follow it exactly. The RD is a friend of mine and he's a great runner and a careful guy, so I'm thinking he should have it figured out and well-marked, but it will be a challenge. Did my little 3.4 mi "tempo" run in 20:22, slow, slow, slow. I would be surprised if I break 18:45 on Saturday.

After the little course navigation, ran a couple more easy miles back to my house with Amy. Oh, also, it felt a lot like winter out there today.

Finally, I would like to get some feedback from the blog on my new running nutrition plan. The front desk at work has a jar of candy corn and I have made it my mission to eat a handful everytime I walk by. I just know I'm going to see some amazing results if I can just keep up that kind of discipline through the holidays.

Research Park loop. Pace was comfortable.

Run Like Health 5k This is a small race on the U of U campus. I mentioned in an earlier blog this week that it's full of twists and turns, and also includes about 150 feet of climbing and an equal amount of descending. So, not really fast. The course marking was great, though, and the RD rode out in front on a bike to lead the way. I started out way too fast. Looking back, it feels like I took off the way that you see kids take off when they run their first road races. You know, full sprint for 100m and then suffer for the rest of the race. Well, I went out fast enough that I was out in front right away. There were a couple of other strong runners in the field that are friends of mine, and a few former high school runners that are students at the U. Anyway, I got out in front and just tried to hold it. The first mile has a gradual descent and then a bit of climbing. I hit the first mile over at Rice Eccles Stadium in 5:16. Way too fast given the technicalities of this course. I feel like I spent the rest of the race paying for that first mile. The second mile retraces the second half of the first mile and then continues north through campus. Second mile split was 5:47. I was about 200m in front at that point. Just wanted to hold on for the last mile, which is basically flat for the first .75 and then descends for about the last quarter. Third mile in 5:45, and then whatever the change is for the last .1 After the race it took a few minutes to get my breathing back. I had that nasty 5k feeling in my lungs, if you know what I mean. So, I finished first in 17:22, average pace 5:38. Kevin Tuck was second in 18:02. He's a strong runner and a solid guy. Hope I can hook up with him for a few runs in the coming months. I got a gift certificate to the Runners Advantage store for my effort, which is great because I dropped a pair of gloves in the toilet after the race. Before the race I ran an easy 2 and after the race an easy 5.5.

Easy downtown route with Heather.

From 15th/15th, I ran the HCI loop with a few Black Sheep. I took it fairly easy today.

On the return, via the trail in Miller Park, Kathryn gave Derrick and John W. the bright idea to hide in the brush and wait to jump out and scare Casey and me when we ran by. They got us pretty good, though I think I did avoid shrieking like a 6 yr old girl. Time to think a bit about payback!

Speed/hill workout with the Black Sheep. It was pretty ugly; 27 degrees at the start and I was underdressed. We started at Foothill Village and warmed up into the St. Mary's neighborhood above Wasatch Blvd. We did 5 x hill repeats on a very steep street (approx 35 sec), recovering on the downhill. Then 5 x hill repeats on an even steeper and longer street (approx 40-45 sec). Then we did 5 repeats of this loop that started flat and then climbed a bit. I didn't have my footpod, so no exact measurements, but I think it was about 500m. Those hurt. The upside was that I was no longer cold.

We cooled down back to Foothill Village and added a bit more mileage en route. Christy T. also led us through a few plyometric exercises at the end.